Jackson man arrested for arson, killing 3 dogs

JACKSON, SC (WFXG) - A Jackson man is behind bars after law enforcement says he killed several dogs and set fire to a home to cover it up.

At around 10:15 p.m. on Friday, May 11, the Aiken County Sheriff's Office was called out to help investigate a house fire on Third Street in Jackson. When the deputy arrived, Chief Thorne with Jackson Volunteer Fire Department told them he and other firefighters smelled gasoline inside the home. Chief Thorne went on to say that while clearing the home after the fire was out, Jackson police officers and firefighters found three dogs inside with injuries not caused by the fire.

A small dog was found hanging from a drawer with a deep cut on its neck. The other two dogs were found in the home's laundry room, one tied to a shelf with a deep cut on its neck and the other with an arrow in the back of its head.

While the scene was being investigated, Aiken County dispatch received a call from a family member of twenty-year-old Marc-Antony Cantrell. They told dispatch that Cantrell had confessed to setting the fire. When deputies came to speak with Cantrell, he told them he wanted to talk without a lawyer and told them his version of that night's incident.

According to the incident report, Cantrell said he blacked out from injecting amphetamine and when he came to, he was holding an ax and saw that he had killed the dogs. He told deputies he burned the house down with gasoline he'd gotten from the garage to cover up the crime because he had killed his family's dogs in the past.

Cantrell was taken to the Aiken County Detention Center and is charged with three counts of cruelty to animals and second-degree arson.